A/N: I don't know what Stephenie Meyer would think of the way I'm dealing with the characters of her Twilight saga, but no matter what they do, they still belong to her. However, the joy of using them in my story belongs to me.

Chapter 9

More revelations

BPOV

I didn't know when Edward and Carlisle would return home. It all depended on Vickie's reaction to Edward's questions. Therefore, I decided to start my reading assignment for Mr. Sterling's class. What else was left for me to do anyway? Rosalie and Emmett were spending most of their evenings at their place, probably making love like crazy since it was such a huge part of what made their relationship so strong and kept it from failing. As for me, right now I was glad that sex was not the only thing that made my marriage work, otherwise my life at the moment would be desperately boring, if not pointless.

Since I was the one responsible for my current relationship status, I had to endure it and try my best to hide my frustration. It was ridiculous to be so dissatisfied just because I had gone one night without losing myself to my husband's bedroom skills. It was driving me nuts to think that I had worsened the situation this afternoon, but I simply couldn't share my bed with a man who was incapable of showing some sympathy toward someone we knew and who was irrevocably dying.

But then again, maybe that's what Edward had been all along: a cold and indifferent immortal who had mastered the art of deception, acting good or bad depending on the circumstance.

Could I have been that blind during those few years since I had become part of his world? No, of course not. Carlisle and Esme would not be so fond of someone so selfish and unconcerned. Not to mention that Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie would resent him, they wouldn't seek his advice or agree with his assessment of a particular situation. Why was I lingering on Edward's conduct so irrationally? I needed to stop these counterproductive thoughts so I turned to my reading. The first book on my list was The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I flipped it open to get an idea of what this fiction was about. The journey of a man and his son after an apocalyptic event. Huh! With that kind of story, I'd escape from reality all right, but only to find myself in a more depressing place. And yet, I dutifully started the novel, in the quietness of our room, lying down on the bed. It was past midnight, a period of the day that had me nostalgic for my time as a human, when I could sleep and forget everything that made me sad. Except for the six months when my nights had been filled in with nightmares, that is.

I was half through with my reading when I realized that I wasn't alone in the bedroom anymore. I turned around and saw Edward in the reclining chair, still like a statue and watching me silently. He also seemed to be meditating on something.

"Crap, Edward! How long have you been spying on me like this?" I said nervously.

"I'm not spying on you, love. I'm just feasting my eyes with all I can get of you," he replied.

He was probably alluding to the nightgown I distractedly adorned before starting the book.

"So, how did it go?" I asked, attempting to avoid any further arousing comments out of him. I didn't let him answer and went on, "Does Vickie want to punch me in the face for telling her secrets?"

"Well, all things considered, you didn't tell us much this evening," he said.

I frowned at Edward's remark, and tried to remember our earlier exchange. I had recounted the attack in the playground and the fact that Vickie had two young brothers. But it was true that Vickie had told me much more than what I'd reported. She had talked about her mom, about an older brother who had committed suicide, and about her dad who was a widower.

"I didn't have the chance to tell you everything, Edward; you were too eager to find out by yourself…," I trailed off.

"And believe me, I found out a lot, tonight. More than I bargained for, I must say," he responded.

"How so?" I asked. Maybe what he had discovered was the reason for his thoughtful expression.

"First and foremost, I learned that Vickie had a brother who was my spitting image, and obviously, it was him that I saw in Vickie's mind, not me," Edward answered flatly.

Holy crow! Could the mystery surrounding Vickie get any weirder?

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Isn't it good news, then?"

"Not really, Bella, even if it explains a lot," he sighed.

I couldn't figure out why Edward was so gloomy about Vickie's brother.

"Did she tell you that he killed himself?" I demanded.

"Yes, and the images that were flashing at me were related to his suicide. Vickie told me that he cut his wrists before plunging in the bathtub. But there is more to the whole thing, I can sense it," Edward replied, still uneasy.

"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued.

"Did Vickie, by any chance, tell you that her brother died a very long time ago, Bella?" my husband asked, staring at me very seriously.

"Yes, why?"

Where was he going with his question?

"Vickie was thirteen when she lost her brother. Assuming that she is now twenty, would you say that seven years is a large amount of time, love?"

"Not for a vampire, of course," I said, "but maybe from a human perspective…"

"Anyhow, there was something else that was odd when we chatted with her in between songs," Edward went on.

"What, now?" I asked, trying to maintain interest. But truthfully, I was more interested in returning to The Road and its hungry human characters who were feeding on their own kind.

"Never mind, Bella, I can't read your mind if you won't allow me, but I still can read your face perfectly," he replied almost aggressively.

That reminded me of the face he was making when I had acknowledged his presence in the room.

"Edward, now you're sort of mad at me, but a few minutes ago, you were preoccupied-"

"Why should I bother to tell you when you're not interested to begin with?" Edward interrupted.

Truth be told, right now the only thing I wanted to do with Edward was the one thing I had told him he was not going to get for a long time. I bit my lower lip to prevent tipping him off about this fact. If Edward knew what was going on in my mind, he could take advantage of my weakening will and have his way with me.

The silence was deafening for a moment and then he spoke. "I care about Vickie, you know, and that's why I am concerned, actually." He paused. "She wants to know why I'm trying to dig up stuff about her."

"So you told her?" I hissed.

"I didn't have to tell her anything, Bella, because you were right," he said cryptically.

"Right about what?" I asked, confused.

"Right about the fact that the girl has a sixth sense or something that makes her extra perceptive. We tried to fool her into believing I wasn't the Renaissance man she thought I was, but she wouldn't take any of our lies. So in the end, she made a deal with us. She told us how her brother died – not that I asked since I already knew – and in exchange I had to tell her why I was on her case. And now that I have promised her, I'll have to confess that my curiosity started because I can read her mind. So tell me, Bella, should I feel relaxed right now, or what?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I wanted to comfort him. He seemed about to lose his legendary composure.

"Surely there must be a different reason that you can come up with that will appease her, Edward. You're a good liar," I said encouragingly.

"It won't work with her! I already told you she knows when someone is trying to fool her!" Edward snapped.

I'd had more than enough of his bad temper for one day. Sensing I hadn't seen the last of it, I got up from the bed and walked to the door. But he was there in a fraction of a second, while I was moving at a human pace, God knows why.

"Where do you think you are going, darling?" he whispered in my ear.

Oh, oh! That wasn't good.

"I'm going to the study to finish my book," I replied quietly.

"And what if I asked you to stay with me, Bella?"

I looked him in the eyes. They were dark amber and filled with desire, and maybe something else, something less civilized…

"I don't like your attitude, Edward," I mumbled, starting to feel dizzy.

"And I don't like your punishment, Bella. It's turning me into a jerk," he answered wryly.

"You've got that right!" I spat out heatedly.

"I need you, love. Besides, you're not playing by the rules. Look at what you're wearing. You are seducing me," he said, his voice betraying his longing.

Darn it! What was I thinking when I had changed for the night? Tonight of all nights! Was it possible that my subconscious had taken over, driving me to wear the tight and sleeveless blue satin dress that Edward was noticing? How ambiguous a signal was that from a woman who was trying to make her husband abstain from sex?

"I'll go put something else on, Edward. I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to arouse you," I said, looking down so he couldn't see how conflicted I was.

But he wouldn't open the door to let me go. Not that it mattered anymore since my walk-in was in the room, not outside, and since I felt I had lost all my will anyway. He put a finger under my chin and gently made me look at him again.

"Where are we going to end up if you continue acting so stubbornly, Bella?" he asked.

So now it was my fault?

Actually, he was right, it was mostly my fault. And I didn't want to lose another night, even though I'd tried my best to make him believe I wasn't turned on. It had all been in vain. Obviously the expression on my face and my body language had given me away. He knew I was craving him.

He didn't wait for an answer. He bent his head and began kissing me fervently. Oh well, what the heck! I was almost combusting already. I threw my arms around his neck, and returned his kiss with even more passion before securing my legs around his waist. I felt a soft wind in my hair, and the next second we were lying on the bed, doing the things I had been thinking about ever since he had returned from Murphy's. Carpe diem.

oooooo

EPOV

I was pretty sure that Bella would agree with me that our Friday schedule was fairly light. We had only two hours of contemporary literature in the morning, and two hours of linear algebra in the afternoon.

It was noon, and we were walking across the Dartmouth Green, having fun as if nothing had happened between us over the course of the past few days. Bella was enjoying herself like a little girl, fooling around and daring me to catch her when she started running. In order to make her movements look human, she did everything in slow motion. She was a natural at it. She had always been able to adjust quite easily.

Our little play time led us to a more remote area of the campus. It was yet another arboretum, but a more compact one. It almost looked like a small forest out of place, located between the Computer Science Center and the girls' dormitory. At first I thought we were alone among the trees, just the two of us, but then I heard laughs coming from behind a bush. Oh boy! Was this college year going to be a revival of my time attending Yale in the seventies? A few seconds passed, and Bella was at my side, watching me with a questioning expression.

"Shhh!" I whispered. "There is someone hiding in the bushes."

And then, we heard someone laughing louder. It was a female voice… a familiar female voice. Bella pulled my shirt to signal that we leave whoever was there alone, but it was too late for that. A couple was making out right by my feet because I was still walking forward when she had grabbed me. The two people passionately absorbed in kissing intensely and repeatedly were no other than Vickie Villeneuve and Alain Letourneux, her father.

I cleared my throat purposely. "Ahem!"

The astronomy teacher abruptly stopped what he was doing, pushed Vickie gently to his side – she was straddling him during their intimate moment –and slowly sat up.

"Bordel de merde!" I heard Vickie swear.

"That's an understatement," I replied.

"Tell me it's not what I think it is, Vickie," Bella said, shocked.

"It's not what you think it is," the professor answered for her.

"Gosh! How could I have been so wrong about you, Professor?" Bella went on, addressing the astrophysicist without letting him justify his behavior. "I thought you were a great teacher, but you're just a sick pervert!"

"I understand why you're disappointed, Isabella, and I can't blame you. It may look odd to someone who is not acquainted with our story-" he explained.

Bella cut him off. "I know your story, Professor Letourneux. Your daughter told me all about it. But it's no excuse for what we just witnessed."

"Actually, you don't know the entire story, Bella," Vickie replied. "In fact, nobody knows the real story."

She stood up to face us.

"We lied to you the other night, like we have lied to everyone else on the campus. Professor Letourneux is not my father. He is my husband."

Vickie's words took a few seconds to sink into my mind.

"Well, Vickie, if you are expecting my approval, you won't get it," I said, before returning my attention to the Daniel Day-Lewis' dead ringer. "So, Professor, why couldn't you find a woman your own age?"

"What kind of a question is that, Edward?" Vickie shot me a furious glare.

I was not exactly the right person to judge her, with a gap of more than eighty-five years between Bella and me. But she didn't know that.

"Maybe we should tell Edward and Isabella the whole story, Vickie," the astronomer stated. "I really don't like passing as a pervert, even if it's not as bad as being an incestuous father."

"Be my guest, Alain, but I don't think they'll believe it anyway," Vickie responded.

Professor Letourneux's mind had been very difficult to read for the last few minutes because he was thinking of many things at the same time: what Bella and I were doing in that secluded area of the campus, his sons who had woken up this morning with a fever, the paper he was still not done with. But now, he was meditating on what to say and how to explain whatever he would tell us.

"Try me," I said.

What was so damn hard to confess? Vickie looked very serious and also kind of sad.

"I still need to know why you're investigating me, Edward; you made a promise. Afterwards, we'll tell you everything," she said.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me either," I replied with a low voice.

But apparently, it was not up to me to decide whether or not I should reveal the truth to Vickie. Bella did it for me, probably tired of all the secrecy.

"Edward was intrigued by what he saw in your head, Vickie," she admitted.

"What's with my head?" Vickie questioned, taken by surprise.

"I thought it was me that you were seeing in your mind, Vickie," I continued, unwillingly, but having no choice now that Bella had talked.

"So you truly are a mind reader, then?" she asked.

"Yes, I can read minds. Usually I hear and see what people are thinking, but it doesn't work with you. I just see flashing pictures in your mind, and only if I make eye contact with you."

"And you saw it when I was thinking about how much you reminded me of Pierre-Luc?"

"I saw your brother in a pool of blood, and I thought it was me," I explained.

"Well, that much I can understand…," she trailed off.

"Vickie, let's make it clear, here, shall we? If I had known from the beginning that I wasn't the subject of your visions, I would have left you alone, believe me."

"The way you say it, it sounds as if you've been stalking me, Edward," she said with a small smile.

"So, Vickie," the professor joined in the conversation, "Pierre-Luc looked exactly like Edward?"

"Yes, he did," she answered impassively.

"How come you're not surprised by Edward's revelations, Vickie?" Bella asked, puzzled.

"I told you that I had my doubts regarding his abilities," she said plainly.

"But now that you know why I was curious about you, you have to tell me your secret, Miss Villeneuve, or is it Mrs. Letourneux?" I pointed out.

"Let's see what you can get from my husband's thoughts, instead," Vickie said with a grin.

Okay, she wanted to test me. I would give her as much as I could get from the astronomer's brain. I didn't even have to concentrate, as he did everything to help me. He was remembering the birth of his sons, and then I saw who the mother was. The mother was Vickie, only she didn't seem to be quite as young in the professor's memories. Then he showed me his kids as they grew, but in the images where Vickie was with them, I could see that she hadn't aged a bit. In fact, she was looking younger and younger as her sons got older. At that moment, it became crystal clear why she was dying: something in her genes made her regress in age. At some point, she wouldn't be a young woman anymore: she would be a teenager, then a little girl, then a toddler, and so on, until she regressed to nonexistence.

"You were right, Vickie," I declared after a moment. "Someone else wouldn't believe your story."

"What did you just see, Edward?" Bella questioned, anxious.

"Mostly, that Professor Letourneux has known Vickie for more years than one might think. She's the mother of his kids," I responded. "How old are you Vickie?"

"I'll be forty in December," she responded in the same fashion as if I had asked her at what time our next class was. No wonder why she had said that her brother had died a very long time ago. He had died twenty-seven years ago!

"I don't understand," Bella said.

"My wife has a mysterious disease that is making her younger instead of aging like everyone else," the astronomy teacher explained.

"When did you start to reverse in age?" I continued asking.

"I was thirty-three, and I have lost about twelve years over the past six. So basically, I'll be dead in ten years."

"We won't let that happen!" Bella exclaimed, and if she still could, I was sure she would have burst into tears at that moment.

"Bella," Vickie replied quietly, "you barely know me. Why are you reacting like that?"

"Carlisle will find a cure, Vickie. It's in your genes, so there must be a way to reverse the mutation," Bella was almost sobbing.

"What mutation?" Vickie cut her off, staggered.

"We analyzed your DNA, and we found out that whatever it is that you have is caused by a mutation in your genes," I confessed.

"How could you venture to do that without my consent?" Vickie asked, angry now. "How did you know there was something wrong with me in the first place?"

That was definitely not a question I could answer. By the way, Vickie, humans usually are very appetizing to us because of their scent, and it so happens that you smell like nothing at all…

"As I said, you are just flashing pictures on and off in my head, Vickie, and I can't process them, they are just glimpse after glimpse of your life," I answered instead.

"Don't you two have some more interesting stuff to do in your spare time? So I'll die of young age, no big deal, you know. Plus, I could die much sooner in a freak accident or a terrorist attack, like anyone else…"

"Vickie," her husband tried to calm her down, "these young people are showing compassion towards your ordeal, and all you can do is reply that you don't care if you die prematurely?"

"Think about your two little boys," Bella said.

"It's better if I don't think too much about Ian and Joel, actually," she replied cynically.

But then, Bella seemed to remember something.

"Vickie, was it you who wrote those articles in that French magazine called Science & Vous?"

Vickie raised an eyebrow. "Do you speak French, Bella?"

"No, but Edward does, and he translated the articles for me. He said they were very well written and quite instructive."

"Well, I hope so, considering that I used to be a scientific journalist, in addition to being a twelfth grade math teacher," Vickie disclosed.

"And how did you end up in Hanover? Why did you stop writing in the summer of 2003?" I questioned.

"You know too much about me already, Mr. Cullen," she said in a low voice.

She took her husband's hand and began to walk away from us. Alain Letourneux grabbed her by the waist and kissed her lightly on the neck. Now I understood why they had to hide what appeared to be such a dubious relationship. And if I had decided to stay platonic with Bella and not been forced to change her, we would probably have been plagued with the same kind of clandestine liaisons after a couple of years. What would their marriage mean in two years? In five years? It wouldn't mean anything anymore when Vickie looked like a fifth grader. Meanwhile, Bella and I had eternity to enjoy each other in every way possible.

Thanks to my betas LadyMacKenzie and Just4ALE. Because of you, I'm able to see myself as an author.